7 Indicted In Election Misconduct

April 25, 1986|By Mark Eissman and Robert Davis.

Six voters and an election judge were indicted Thursday by a Cook County grand jury on charges of violating state election laws in the March 18 primary election, State`s Atty. Richard Daley announced Thursday.

The election judge, Maria Medina, was from the 14th precinct of the embattled 26th Ward. The 14th precinct was one of 10 precincts in that ward allowed to remain open after the official closing time.

Medina was charged with official misconduct because she allegedly left the polling place at 2614 W. LeMoyne Ave., where she was a judge, for six hours while the polls were open to go to her job at the Chicago Transit Authority.

She also is charged with deliberately ignoring orders by Circuit Court Judge Joseph Schneider, who ruled that certain precincts were to remain open and ballots sequestered. The judge had said that although voting could continue in that precinct, votes cast after his order should have been set aside awaiting a further judicial ruling on the propriety of the extended voting hours.

Schneider`s order was not entered until about 8 p.m., and Daley declined comment on the proof he had that she had deliberately ignored the order.

Also indicted was a 10th Ward resident, Robin Nabors, of 9928 S. Crandon Ave., who allegedly forged her mother`s signature in order to obtain a ballot in that ward`s 31st precinct. However, she was prevented from voting after a poll watcher questioned her identity, Daley said. She was charged with perjury and forgery.

The other five were charged with perjury for having fraudulently obtained voter registration cards, although they were not United States citizens. They are Teodulo Castro, 28, of 833 W. Buena Ave. in the 46th Ward; Jose Moreno, 30, of 1330 W. Huron St., in the 26th Ward; Yamileth Duignan, 39, of 4918 N. Kruger Ave., in the 39th Ward; Juan Carmona, no age, of 6140 S. Washtenaw Ave., in the 14th Ward; and Felipe Perez, 31, of 1440 W. Hollywood Ave., in the 48th Ward.

Daley said Duignan is a Costa Rican and the others are Mexican nationals. ``These felony charges should send a message to anyone thinking of violating the election code,`` Daley warned in advance of Tuesday`s runoff election in the 26th and 15th Wards.

Daley also said he received a request from Manuel Torres to investigate a $10,000 payment to Luis Gutierrez, his 26th Ward aldermanic opponent, listed on campaign contribution forms as having been made on March 2. Gutierrez has said he made a mistake in not listing the payment as a loan rather than a contribution.

Daley said he would investigate but said he would turn the matter over to an assistant because he has endorsed Torres.

Mayor Harold Washington in recent weeks leveled criticism at Daley for not being impartial in the election controversies because of the endorsement. Daley responded, ``There are police officers working in a department under the mayor`s direction, and that doesn`t mean they will not be doing their job. We`re all working for a safe, clean, honest election.``

Torres also picked up endorsements Thursday from candidates he had once opposed.

At a news conference held in a debris-strewn vacant lot in the 26th Ward, Torres announced the endorsements of Oscar Martinez, whom he defeated in the March 18 race for Democratic ward committeeman, and Jim Blasinski, the school crossing guard whose 20 write-in votes forced the runoff election.

Gutierrez spent nearly an hour Thursday canvassing Division Street with the mayor, promising constituents to clean the streets of the ward and refuting accusations made by Torres. Washington said outgoing Ald. Michael Nardulli had not made requests for improvements.

``A mayor cannot function over and above the aldermen,`` Washington said. ``Don`t assume because there`s a broken sidewalk that it`s the mayor`s fault when the alderman hasn`t said a word.``

Later, Torres renewed charges that Gutierrez is a socialist sympathizer with ties to the Armed Forces of National Liberation, or FALN, the Puerto Rican terrorist group responsible for some 130 bombings in the U.S. since 1974. As evidence, Torres presented numerous student newspaper articles written by or about Gutierrez in which he defends the Puerto Rican

independence movement and its supporters. The movement is a controversial and divisive issue in the Puerto Rican community.

Attempts to reach Gutierrez for comment Thursday evening were unsuccessful.

The articles, written while Gutierrez was a student at Northeastern Illinois University in the mid-70`s, appeared in Que Ondee Sola, a student newsletter published by the Union for Puerto Rican Students. At one time, Gutierrez was president of the union.